Journey's End Review

Jennifer from Crafolic Blog created an active fun game for kids to learn about sin and confession. She gave me a free copy to review and tell others about it.  I am happy to do so!  I decided to test it out at a family gathering with my nieces and nephew.  Their ages ranged from 5 to 14 and there were 5 of them playing.  The premise of the game is for the children to walk the "Life Path" and randomly pick a card at each station in life.  Jennifer recommends using 3 - 2x4 boards, a fat rope or the edge of a rug.  I used 3 belts since that is all we had and it worked out well even though they were under 4 feet each.

Walked on the belts 

Along their "Life Path" they were to randomly pick a choice card that told them what they had to do at each station of life.  For example, 

"You chose to go to confession.  Walk forward with God's grace!!"  

or 

"You chose to commit a venial sin.  Walk the Life Path with one of your hands at your side 

and the other over one eye."  

or 

"You gave into temptation and chose to commit a mortal sin... Walk the Life Path backwards,

with your hands down and your eyes closed."

There were a total of 4 stations where they randomly selected a card and followed it's directions. The last station is a "Death Card" that again, is randomly picked and will tell you whether your actions will lead you to Heaven, Purgatory or Hell.

My youngest niece took a break with her dog!

Overall, this game is educational and it teaches children the relationship between sin and confession.  It's also a hands-on game that generated a lot of discussion of sin and the need for God's grace for eternal salvation.  My sister and oldest niece, helped me run the game and answer the questions that arose.  We answered questions as they were asked which caused some interruption to the game but it was a great way for the kids to make the important connections.

Before starting this game, I would recommend explaining to your students or children, that this game is played randomly and the "Death Cards" are not a predictor of their own future resting place.  We played the game several times and my son randomly picked the "Hell" card twice and asked "Do you think God is trying to tell me something?"  I used this as an opportunity to talk to him about the importance of God's grace that can be given to him through confession for absolution of his sins.

Thank you to my family for playing the Journey's End Game with me!

Thank you to Jennifer from Crafolic for giving me this opportunity!  You can purchase your own Journey's End game from her website here for $5.00.  This faith formation game is a great deal that will enhance your children's understanding of sin, confession and God's grace.

Blessings,

Noreen